


don't cry, keep on trying to bite

by mishkanumbers



Category: OMORI (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Possibly OOC, i don't think so but., sunny has dermatophagia/dermatillomania, suntan bait
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:53:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28913406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mishkanumbers/pseuds/mishkanumbers
Summary: sunny finally opens the door to kel again after 4 years, and kel promptly finds out that sunny has a new bad habit.(i just really wanted to project ok)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 163





	don't cry, keep on trying to bite

in a dim room, a young, rather dishevelled boy's eyes open. it is probably somewhere between two and four a.m. he doesn't know for sure, but he also does not care. it no longer surprises him. his days are all over the place. he shuffles into an upright position, hand reaching to his forehead in response to a headache he's only just processed. every time he tries to search for a solution, he's met with the same phrase - _'don't sleep too much'_. what else is there to even do?

he sighs.

forcing your body to sleep isn't a simple task, though he has gotten good at it over the last couple of years. despite this, it seems as though tonight, his willpower was not going to overcome what his body had planned out for him. and so, he finds himself laying there until sunrise.

his mind racing, but unable to sleep, he finds himself reaching for some of the tiny wounds that decorate his finger tips. as if it weren't even his own doing, he begins to pick. small flakes of hardened skin, some only barely healed, fall in a way that satisfies - even if only a little. before he knows it, his nails are crusted with blood.

buried deep within his own thoughts, it almost felt as if he could float back away into the safe, warm embrace of sleep again - at least, he _would_ have, if it were not for a sudden thunderous pounding at the front door. the move was meant to be soon. the house sure didn't _look_ occupied. _what in the hell could that be?_ with a groan, he lifts himself off the bed, throwing the blanket back over the mattress in a careless fashion, and finds his way downstairs.

_"SUNNYYYYYYY? ARE YOU THERE?"_

he flinches a little. it's kel, isn't it. he's using both hands to make all that noise, _isn't he._

..figures.

the noise quietens for a second - presumably for kel to catch his breath - before another shower of knocking comes raining down, filling the short-lived silence.

_"CAN YOU PLEASE JUST OPEN THE DOOR, I'VE BEEN TRYING TO REACH YOU FOR SO LONG NOW AND-"_

not knowing what came over him, sunny does indeed open the door. very, very slightly. he peers out of a small crack, his dull, tired eyes meeting kel's gaze. he looks away immediately. kel is much larger and very much more intimidating than he remembered. he tries to speak, but it's no use. he tries to raise his voice and nothing comes.

kel, however, does not have this issue. _"ah- god- jesus, sunny, are you.. are you, like, okay?"_ he feels kel's eyes search him up and down, and only now is it that he feels even a tiny twinge of shame for not taking care of himself at all. kel forces his way into the tattered house before sunny even has the chance to think about running away again, and shuts the door firmly behind him. sunny backs up, staring back up at the other boy, but still avoiding direct eye contact. the urge to tear off his skin is so strong in this moment. he can resist it. he can resist it. right?

wrong.

he instinctively raises a hand to his mouth, going straight for a loose strip on his thumb. with no hesitation, he rips it right off. blood starts pooling where the skin was just moments ago, and he stares at it, transfixed. his anxiety subsides to some degree, though the peace is temporary, and he feels a hand grab him by the forearm.

_"sunny- goddamn- what the hell. don't do that. it's not good,"_ kel shakes his head for a second. sunny supposes that kel probably did not assume he would ever find him in quite a mess like this. he tries to apologize, but all that comes out is a small whine. and his hands are back at his chest, and he's shredding them with his nails again. it just does not end.

kel sighs. _"i.. i'm sorry. i've just been so worried about you ALL this time and- and-"_ he takes a deep breath, averting his eyes from the pale, sickly boy in front of him for a moment. _"i missed you. and i had to make sure that you were okay." before you leave without a trace, and who knows what happens,_ he doesn't add.

sunny reluctantly looked back at him, and nodded. he had no idea what that response was meant to mean. at this point, there were small streaks of blood all around his nails, and some across his face. combined with his thin, feeble stature, and his ghostly complexion, you could say he looked half dead. to kel, he also looked like a kicked puppy.

_"are you sure you're doing okay?"_

_"i.. uh.... i, don't.. know?"_ just one sentence carried the weight of an entire novel. his voice was worn and rusted, and his mouth tasted of copper.

_"what's even going on here, like- you look so sick-"_

_"i.. don't know.."_

and of course, comes the inevitable, the question he didn't want asked-

_"and, what.. what's up with your hands?"_

_"ah.. i don't...."_ sunny starts to back away again, feeling smaller than ever. his emotions rising, he just has to do it - he _has_ to. and he does. like second nature, off he goes again, digging his nails in deep, drawing blood from all the cracks. he reaches out to bite at his thumb again, peeling off another piece he snaps back to reality and hesitantly lowers his hand. _"i'm sorry."_

_"sorry? i- you don't- you don't need to be sorry, dude. you just seem really bad. and i care about you, you know- we-"_

sunny swears it looked like kel was going to tear up in that moment, but he quickly changes the subject. he grabs sunny by the hand, gentler this time, and starts leading him towards the kitchen. _"come on. let's go get you washed up, you can't stay like that. i'm kinda covered in dirt myself, so.. sorry about the mess and all, haha.."_ his laugh seems strained, but the sound is still pleasant. a reminder of better days, and better things. it has been so long since sunny has touched another human being, and kel's hand is warm, and comforting. sunny eases into his grip.

_"nmh.. okay."_

**Author's Note:**

> funnily enough i did just what sunny was told not to practically the entire time i wrote this. sigh. we'll both get there someday.


End file.
